Sustainability
Putting sustainability into practice We recognise that we have a responsibility to assess the environmental and social impacts of our business – and to manage these impacts. Here's how we do it: We aim to reduce annual employee carbon emissions by one tonne, from 3.5 to 2.5 tonnes by 2020. We're helping our customers by developing products and services that will support the transition to a low carbon economy. By investing in educational partnerships, we’re able to commit time, money and resources to promote economic growth by helping young people reach their potential. Our five-year programme with Earthwatch, WaterAid and WWF is focused on helping the 1.1 billion people who don’t have access to safe drinking water. We anticipate and deal with potential social or environmental risks that may arise through our lending and investment. Here are some examples of how we are working with our stakeholders to build a more sustainable future.
Chocolate Slavery Case Against Nestlé Allowed to Proceed
Eight years after they sued Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Cargill and Nestlé for allegedly forcing them to work as child labor on a Côte d'Ivoire cocoa plantation, three young men from Mali have won a small victory – the ability to be heard in a California court. The lawsuit was first filed as a class action to represent thousands of former plantation workers in July 2005 by the Washington-based International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) and Global Exchange, which is based in San Francisco. The non-profit organizations recorded videotape testimony from the three specific individuals who stated that they had been lured across the border between 1994 and 2000 with the promise of easy work and good wages. “Plaintiffs, aged 12 to 14 when first forced to work as child slaves, had to work 12 to 14 hour days with no pay. They often worked with guns pointed at them, and were given only the bare minimum of food scraps,” write their lawyers in the complaint. However, in April last year, when the U.S.
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Nestle 'failing' on child labour abuse, says FLA report
29 June 2012Last updated at 08:33 ET By Humphrey Hawksley BBC News Nestle signed an agreement in 2001 aimed at ending the use of child labour on cocoa farms The food company Nestle has been accused of failing to carry out checks on child labour and other abuses in part of its cocoa supply chain. A report by an independent auditor, the Fair Labor Association (FLA), says it found "multiple serious violations" of the company's own supplier code. The code includes clauses on child labour, safety and working hours. Cocoa is the raw product that makes chocolate in a global industry worth more than $90bn (£58bn) a year. Earlier reports found that 1.8 million children in West Africa are at risk of abuse through dangerous child labour. After increasing pressure, Nestle, which is the world's biggest food company, commissioned the FLA to map its cocoa supply chain in the Ivory Coast from where almost half the world's cocoa comes. Rampant injuries 'Top priority' They say they are studying the findings.
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Standard Chartered Bank was formed in 1969 through the merger of two separate banks, the Standard Bank of British South Africa and the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China. These banks had capitalised on the expansion of trade between Europe, Asia and Africa. The Chartered Bank The Chartered Bank was founded by James Wilson following the grant of a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria in 1853. The bank opened in Mumbai (Bombay), Kolkata and Shanghai in 1858, followed by Hong Kong and Singapore in 1859. The traditional trade was in cotton from Mumbai, indigo and tea from Kolkata, rice from Burma, sugar from Java, tobacco from Sumatra, hemp from Manila and silk from Yokohama. The bank played a major role in the development of trade with the East following the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the extension of the telegraph to China in 1871. In 1957 Chartered Bank bought the Eastern Bank, together with the Ionian Bank's Cyprus Branches and established a presence in the Gulf.
India sues Nestle for nearly $100m over food safety
India's government is seeking damages of nearly $100m from Nestle India for "unfair trade practices" after the food safety regulator banned its hugely popular Maggi noodles brand in June for containing unsafe levels of lead. The government said on Wednesday that it has filed a suit with the country's top consumer court, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), for 6,400 million rupees ($98.6m) in damages from the Indian arm of the Swiss food giant. "Our complaint is over their unfair trade practices and the court will now issue them notices to hear their response," G Gurcharan, additional secretary at the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, told AFP news agency. RELATED: Indian Maggi instant noodles 'hazardous' In April, laboratory tests ordered by some state governments found the noodles contained far higher levels of lead than legally allowed. In a statement on Wednesday, Nestle said the company has "a stringent programme" to test the ingredients in its noodles. Source: Agencies
